The festival
The Art Explora Festival is an itinerant festival that travels the world's seas and oceans with its museum boat, offering innovative artistic and cultural experiences accessible free of charge.
The festival takes place aboard the world's first museum ship, docked in exhibition pavilions and in various venues in the heart of host cities, with a program combining exhibitions, virtual reality, performances, conferences, film screenings, concerts...
From spring 2024 to autumn 2026, the museum boat will travel to 15 countries in the Mediterranean, cradle of great civilizations and melting pot of many cultures, bringing together artists, curators, cultural, associative and educational organizations who, collectively, will imagine a new vision of the Mediterranean.
The museum boat
This catamaran is the world's first museum boat. Designed by architects Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier, it is 47m long and 55m high. The boat was built at the Perini Navi shipyard in Italy. It can accommodate 2,000 people a day on board, and features an immersive exhibition designed with the exceptional collaboration of the Musée du Louvre, a sound experience developed with Ircam, and onboard artist residencies.
Valentin Popineau
Exhibition pavilions
Accompanying the museum boat, a nomadic and innovative exhibition space, designed by Wilmotte & Associés Architectes, is set up on the quaysides of the ports visited. Comprising exhibition pavilions, a central stage - the Agora - and convivial spaces, it offers a rich program adapted to all audiences.
Dockside and city programming
At each stop, a local curator organizes a unique and varied programme cultural program in partnership with local institutions, associations and artists:
- A 10-day programme of exhibitions, events, film screenings and live performances in each port and in the city.
- Close collaboration with local institutions, showcasing local and established Mediterranean artists as well as emerging talents, focusing on contemporary Mediterranean issues.
- Series of workshops and programs for the general public designed in collaboration with local associations
- "Ocean Week-ends" : Researchers, scientists and artists will be invited to exchange on the topic of the ocean and the climate emergency, accompanied by film screenings and the transmission of sound compositions.
Cultural tour: Stamping card game for young audiences
Take part in the Art Explora children's competition and its 13 partner venues! Collect as many stamps as you can by visiting each of the Festival's partner cultural venues from June 6 to July 31, 2024.
Aboard the museum boat
Discover 2 experiences on board: "Presents", the immersive exhibition with the exceptional collaboration of the Louvre Museum as well as the sound journey in the Mediterranean created by Ircam x Centre Pompidou. Sail by Laure Prouvost.
Under The Azure
Under the Azure is an exhibition paying tribute to the Mediterranean Sea, to the imagery it evokes, to the awe it inspires, and to the ancient and contemporary myths associated with it.
Undertow
This exhibition explores the Mediterranean in the context of migration and exile, highlighting the work of emerging photographers from the region.
Journey through time and space
Discover recent virtual reality creations connected to the themes of the Art Explora Festival: heritage, art culture, migrations...